Study: Oakland among the least safe cities in the U.S.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland was ranked among the least safe cities in America, in a new study that looked at a wide range of risks from crime to natural disasters and financial security.
The analysis by WalletHub listed Oakland 175th out of the 182 cities evaluated.
The study also ranked San Francisco in the bottom half of its list, placing it as 136th safest city.
On the other end of the spectrum, Fremont fared the best of all Bay Area cities overall, ranking as the 17th safest in America.
Topping the list was Columbia, Maryland.
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The report looked at 42 key indicators under the umbrellas of three major categories.
"Home & Community Safety," which was most heavily weighed, had almost 20 subcategories including the number of mass shootings in the city, the rates of homicides, assaults, rapes, and other crimes, traffic fatalities per capita, as well as the percentage of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The category of "Natural-Disaster Risk" weighed threats from earthquakes, wildfire, and extreme weather events like flooding and hurricanes.
The third category of "Financial Safety" included a look at figures like a city’s unemployment, foreclosure, and poverty rates and took into account other money related classifications like debt-to-income ratio.
"One of the biggest worries for many people right now is the cost of inflation, which reached a four-decade high this year and threatens Americans’ financial safety," the study's researchers noted.
MORE BAY AREA RANKINGS:
- The study placed San Francisco in 4th place when it came to financial safety.
- Fremont came in 5th for financial security and 10th under the "Home & Community Safety" category.
- San Jose was also listed among the most financially secure cities, coming in 6th in that category. Overall, the South Bay city ranked 73rd safest in the country.
- Santa Rosa was listed 39th overall, taking 14th place for financial safety and 21st for community safety.
"No one can avoid all danger, however, and we take on a certain level of risk based on where we choose to live," the study said, adding, "Some cities are simply better at protecting their residents from harm."